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Post by kiwikate on Jan 7, 2020 9:09:31 GMT
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SuPeaNatural
Full Member
AUSTRALIA
Posts: 424
Jun 27, 2014 8:49:11 GMT
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Post by SuPeaNatural on Jan 7, 2020 9:56:36 GMT
One of the fears is that two of the bigger fires will merge and form one huge "super" fire. According to a news report I heard this morning, the smoke has reach Chile!!
And we've already had some cretins pretending to collect for victims, but keeping the money. Also a few looters have been arrested. What scumbags.
KiwiKate, it's been so eerie here too, having blood red sunrises and sunsets for the past few months.
Zella, that sort of thing makes me shake my head too. While we certainly appreciate everyone's prayers and well wishes, some go a bit overboard. Then you get the total jerks like England's Jeremy Clarkson, who should keep his stupid mouth shut.
There's been a smattering of rain in the south of N.S.W. but all it did was make the ground soggy, which hampered emergency vehicles. It certain;y didn't put out any fires.
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Post by deshacrafts on Jan 7, 2020 12:50:11 GMT
Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. It is just heart breaking to see the devastation and the loss of life and property. I have donated to several of the organizations that were recommended. I will continue to keep Australia in my thoughts and prayers.
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zella
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,884
Jul 7, 2014 19:36:30 GMT
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Post by zella on Jan 7, 2020 22:00:36 GMT
I want to donate to one or more organizations that are involved in the firefighting and caring for humans and animals affected by these fires. I am trying to think what I can do, as I really don't have money to donate. But I am thinking of selling some craft items online and donating the proceeds. Goodness knows I have enough of them! I've done it before for communities affected by hurricanes and have been able to donate a couple of hundred dollars each time. I feel like I can't just sit here and not do something concrete, you know?
I check on the situation daily, and it just breaks my heart every time. Aussie Peas, my heart aches for your country and your people and your animals. The statistics are just beyond belief, and grow worse daily. Hugs and love to you all.
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Post by KikiPea on Jan 8, 2020 14:33:00 GMT
The fires along the eastern coast are horrendous. Lives have been lost, properties burnt to the ground, livestock have died. The people afffected are suffering in unimaginable ways. I'm not sure how you ever get over something like this. If you ever do. I am in South Australia and we have fires burning but not to the extent of the eastern states. From our home the smell of smoke is evident and it certainly makes you stop and think. The eastern states are in a state of emergency and the army have been called in to assist the fire fighters. They are exhausted. Some of these fires have been burning since September and as some of the areas are also in drought many prayers have been said for the rain to come and put out the fires. I actually heard on the news the other day that it was lightly raining in some areas, but not hard enough to put anything out. Instead, it was hindering the process of starting fires to help stop the spread because the vegetation was wet. Just so awful. Sending many, many prayers to all!
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Post by rahnee on Jan 8, 2020 19:27:30 GMT
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Post by Skellinton on Jan 8, 2020 20:33:46 GMT
Thank you for this. It is my birthday in a few weeks and I am asking my family who typically buy me a gift to donate to the animals instead of buying me anything.
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Post by disneypal on Jan 8, 2020 21:10:32 GMT
We had weird yellow/orange skies in Auckland, NZ yesterday - caused by smoke particles drifting across the Tasman. I'm just horrified by the devastation and harm to people and wildlife. Thinking of all the Aussie Peas on the east coast. My niece and her family are in Auckland and said the sky was dark and yellow orange due to the smoke. She took these photos at 3 pm
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Post by shelby on Jan 10, 2020 1:54:59 GMT
Zella, J.m sorry but I don't understand why you are so angry about them asking for prayers.If you don't believe, ignore it. That is your choice but what harm is being caused by asking people to unite in praying for all those being effected. He isn't just their God, he also mine and I will continue to pray for them.
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,052
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 10, 2020 9:54:09 GMT
Well as an Australian that made me furious. Yes send prayers if you want but praying will not put the fires out FFS. That post was like “if enough people pray, the fires will go out and Australia will be saved”, sorry that’s just utter bullshit.
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zella
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,884
Jul 7, 2014 19:36:30 GMT
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Post by zella on Jan 10, 2020 23:51:30 GMT
Well as an Australian that made me furious. Yes send prayers if you want but praying will not put the fires out FFS. That post was like “if enough people pray, the fires will go out and Australia will be saved”, sorry that’s just utter bullshit. EXACTLY. It wasn't just asking people to pray, it was suggesting the power to put out the fires lay in the hands of the freaking American faithful, and that is insulting, as Allie has said!
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Post by gar on Jan 13, 2020 22:50:52 GMT
AussieMeg , AllieC, hannahruth - how are things? On our news I've seen quite a lot of updates on Koala rescues etc but not much on the fires themselves. Has the weather cooled at all?
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,052
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 13, 2020 23:22:39 GMT
It's really up and down. Some of the worst fires are now controlled/out and people have been able to go back to their towns. There have been a couple of fires that have joined in Victoria's high country creating a huge one which is a big worry. Kangaroo Island in South Australia has had a huge area burnt and there are currently 3 fires still burning but not at emergency level. There are still thousands of fire fighters in 4 states working huge shifts to keep them under control.
There is predicted heavy rain in some of the worst affected areas in NSW and Victoria over the next few days which will help hugely. The Rural Fire Service in NSW posted this:
The RFS post says:
"If this Bureau of Meteorology rainfall forecast comes to fruition then this will be all of our Christmas, birthday, engagement, anniversary, wedding and graduation presents rolled into one. Fingers crossed." So there is a long way to go. Even if all the fires are out, we are still early into the fire danger period. Then there is the massive job of rebuilding - some places have had pretty much the whole town burnt down. There will be a shortage of tradies to build houses etc and it will take a long time.
My 22 year old daughter works for the state government in public housing. She is now in Gippsland for the week (a 10 hour drive or 1 hour flight plus 3 hours drive) dealing with people affected by the bushfires as she has been trained in emergency assistance. Last night she send this text: *** It was craziness but it went pretty well. Left hotel at 7am and got back at 6pm. The lines for the grants were crazy. It was at a big oval and we were in the changerooms and people were lined up almost half way around the oval. Most waited for 3 hours in line and there were 15 of us processing the grants all day.
Everyone was fine, no people seemed upset about the wait despite being there for ages. Most people were super grateful. A few people were so extra thankful when I said we had come from Mildura. One lady was "thankyou from the bottom of our hearts for coming all this way to help us and stay in our towns" which was so nice. *** So there are people in so many jobs around the country who are being called in to help and this will go on for months/years.
Thank you for your thoughts xo
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Post by AussieMeg on Jan 13, 2020 23:49:11 GMT
Thanks for asking gar. We had a cooler weekend and even got a bit of rain, but I don't think there was too much rain in the fire affected areas. There are still about 100 fires burning. The air quality rating has dropped from "Very Poor" to "Hazardous" today in Melbourne, it's so smokey. I hate to think how bad it is near the fires if it's this bad in Melbourne! We're hoping for some decent rain on Wednesday. Fingers crossed.
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Post by gar on Jan 13, 2020 23:53:42 GMT
Thanks for your updates. I will certainly be crossing my fingers for you that a decent amount of rain does come soon! It’s good to hear a few people have been able to go back but obviously there’s still a lot of problems to tackle yet. Your DD must have had quite a day AllieCI gather your PM has apologised for his handling of the crisis- will he be forgiven?
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Post by AussieMeg on Jan 14, 2020 0:39:40 GMT
I gather your PM has apologised for his handling of the crisis- will he be forgiven? Depends what side of the fence you're on! The righties don't think he has anything to apologise for, and the lefties won't want to forgive him for anything he does!
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,052
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 14, 2020 1:15:17 GMT
It was basically a non-apology really. I think he has done himself irreversible damage and even some of his previous supporters are abandoning him.
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Post by jess on Jan 14, 2020 3:29:13 GMT
It was basically a non-apology really. I think he has done himself irreversible damage and even some of his previous supporters are abandoning him. Agreed. I know some dyed in the wool Liberal voters who have turned on him. We've got another couple of years before an election, but I think there's a good chance he may be given the boot before then.
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,052
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 14, 2020 3:33:46 GMT
It was basically a non-apology really. I think he has done himself irreversible damage and even some of his previous supporters are abandoning him. Agreed. I know some dyed in the wool Liberal voters who have turned on him. We've got another couple of years before an election, but I think there's a good chance he may be given the boot before then. I think (and this will sound awful) Lib voters (generalisation!) were quite happy with his policies because they looked after the wealthy and down on "those people" (poor, refugees, minorities) but with many affected by the fires they are now affected themselves and can see how appalling his leadership has been.
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Post by jess on Jan 14, 2020 3:52:51 GMT
Yep. Unfortunately for a lot of people (obviously the reason the US have Trump and we have ScoMo) people just don't give a toss until it affects them personally. I'm generally pretty easy-going when it comes to politics, but I was devastated by the last election.
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Post by gar on Jan 14, 2020 9:04:43 GMT
I gather your PM has apologised for his handling of the crisis- will he be forgiven? Depends what side of the fence you're on! The righties don't think he has anything to apologise for, and the lefties won't want to forgive him for anything he does! Sounds familiar!
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Orangutan
Junior Member
Posts: 72
Location: Australia
Dec 21, 2019 6:03:37 GMT
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Post by Orangutan on Jan 14, 2020 9:24:18 GMT
I was on my way to work this morning and saw a kangaroo on the side of the road that was quite pink. The poor thing had obviously been under one of the aircraft dropping fire retardant on our fire before Christmas.
I was in Sydney at the end of October and the air was really smoky then so I dread to think what it is like now as things escalated after that. I will be in Melbourne next week so looks like it will be bad there also. Hoping they can get things under control soon.
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Post by gar on Jan 18, 2020 9:39:00 GMT
I'm seeing reports of some storms/heavy rains in some parts of NSW. Hopefully this is dousing some of the fires and that the potential flooding doesn't come to anything - fingers crossed! BBC
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Post by peasapie on Jan 23, 2020 13:29:12 GMT
We’ve been watching a few members of the Australian government speak on our local news programs about everyone’s efforts there and it’s truly inspiring. Folks seem to be pulling together and doing all they can without blaming or name calling, which too often accompanies disaster situations. My heart breaks for the humans and wildlife who are devastated by this - the scope of which is nearly incomprehensible. I hope it ends soon.
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Post by gar on Jan 29, 2020 14:09:27 GMT
I haven't seen any news recently so what's the latest there ladies? Does no news mean limited 'good news' in that some of the fires are coming under control? Have you had any rain? AussieMeg, AllieC, Orangutan, jess
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,052
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 29, 2020 22:09:45 GMT
Most of the fires that were really bad are under control or out thank goodness. Now it is the super tough time of people going back to towns which have been hugely affected and rebuilding. There was a new one that has started near Canberra a few days ago with some terrible weather on the way so that one is a concern.
There is a big push to "bring an empty esky" which basically means travelling to affected towns with an empty esky (cooler?) and staying and buying local to support the local businesses. #emptyesky
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Post by gar on Jan 29, 2020 22:17:31 GMT
Most of the fires that were really bad are under control or out thank goodness. Now it is the super tough time of people going back to towns which have been hugely affected and rebuilding. There was a new one that has started near Canberra a few days ago with some terrible weather on the way so that one is a concern. There is a big push to "bring an empty esky" which basically means travelling to affected towns with an empty esky (cooler?) and staying and buying local to support the local businesses. #emptyesky Thanks for that I am really pleased to read that many of the fires are out but of course, there's now such much repair, rebuilding and regenerating to do. I hope Canberra gets off lightly! I hope the empty cooler idea takes off!
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wellway
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,759
Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
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Post by wellway on Jan 30, 2020 14:34:28 GMT
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Post by gar on Jan 30, 2020 15:57:16 GMT
I hadn’t seen that particular article but had seen a few pictures of regrowth slowing happening. Marvellous isn’t it - a long way to go but it gives a little bit of hope at least.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jan 30, 2020 20:34:54 GMT
Yes we got a good amount of rain last week - just in time for smalltowngirlie's trip to Melbourne! I mean, we needed the rain badly, but it came too late for the fires and too early for her trip. In fact, I heard that it was the wettest couple of days in 24 years! So we went from fires to flash flooding, then a massive dust storm which turned pretty much every pool in Melbourne brown.... and now the temperature is soaring again - 40 yesterday and 43 today. Thanks for asking after us.
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